Disney and Marvel Will Look For a New Wolverine Actor

As we wait to see the full impact of Fox and Disney’s merger on the X-Men movie franchise, it’s become increasingly clear that Hugh Jackman really is done as Wolverine, and that Disney will look a new actor to fill the role of the X-Men’s most beloved and pointiest mutant.

/Film has an interview with Lauren Schuler Donner, producer of the X-Men series, who confirms that Marvel’s Kevin Feige will be the one making the decisions for the franchise moving forward. She also notes that Jackman really is done with playing Logan, mostly because of the physical toll the role was taking on his body:

This man worked so hard to bulk up, would get up at four in the morning to bulk and eat protein meals every two hours because his natural state, they used to call him Worm when he was a kid. So his natural state is a very skinny guy. Once you reach a certain age, the body just won’t go anymore. I think he was wise to say, ‘I’m at that point. I can’t do it.’ Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t come back as older Wolverine. You never know. Future Wolverine, you never know.

Logan kind of already was Older Logan or Future Wolverine. (It was based on a book called Old Man Logan, in fact.) But he could play, like, Really Old Man Logan down the line.

Regarding the new Wolverine, Donner said the role would be recast but admitted she “[doesn’t] know what Kevin’s thinking honestly. I don’t even think Kevin knows. I think Kevin’s still dealing with this wealth of characters and trying to make sense of them.” So don’t expect to see a new Wolvie anytime soon, or hold your breath for an Avengers: Endgame cameo or something like that.

The final two Fox X-Men movies, Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, open in theaters on June 7 and August 2, respectively.